Design a Better Dental Website

Bloor West Smiles recognized that their dental website was looking dated, didn’t perform well on mobile devices, and wasn’t delivering the patient leads they needed to grow their dental practice. So they commissioned Mystique to update their website utilizing responsive website design, make it search engine friendly, and integrate strategies to improve the return on their marketing investment.

If your dental practice website is also looking dated, or worse yet, not making you money, it’s time to overhaul your website! If this is the case, then the following article is worth a read.

More than any other application, your website stimulates the brand personality of your practice. For true success the site must not only tell your story, but support, and improve, your overall marketing efforts. Your website isn’t a silo. And it’s not just about design. Your website affects your social media, email marketing, patient lead generation, lead nurturing, brand awareness, and ultimately sales.

Understand that your website is not just about you. Prospective patients want to know “what’s in it for me?”. Identify their needs. Speak to them in their language by designing content around buyer personas.

Our collaboration with Bloor West Smiles has resulted in a mobile friendly website that provides them with a great foundation to build upon. From creating a simple design for visitors to navigate through, to videos, and easy contact forms, there are lots of ways to update your website to engage new and existing patients.

Successful Dental Websites start with a Plan

Start by setting specific website objectives based on a long-term vision for your practice.

Set priorities based on your established budget and time frame parameters.

Develop a Promotional Strategy to gain maximum impact with patients and prospects alike.

Define and Measure the Return On Investment (ROI) for your website.

With your Plan in place follow these Simple Website Tips:

Make your Site Easy to Navigate

A simple interface is essential as you need your website to be user-friendly. Prospective patients want to gather information as quickly as possible. You’ll notice on the Bloor West Smiles website that we highlighted the practices top four dental categories above the fold (seen without scrolling) in an effort to encourage prospective patients to pass through these target areas.

Feature Videos on Your Homepage Design

People love videos. So including videos is a good way to boost engagement on your website. These can be videos highlighting the team, giving tips for patients, showcasing different successful cases, etc. Bloor West Smiles features a great video on their homepage that not only does a fantastic job in introducing their team, but also features actual patients talking positively about their experiences.

Utilize Meta description tags. While they may no longer be important to search engine rankings, they are extremely important to improve user click-through from SERPs. Mystique uses these short paragraphs as an opportunity to advertise content to searchers, letting them know exactly what the given page has in regards to what they’re looking for. For example, a Google search for “family dentist Bloor West village” reals the following snippet of text:

It’s also crucial that each image on your website has an alt text that strengthens the message with search engine spiders, as well as improving the accessibility of your website to ensure blind and visually impaired people know what the image is.

Develop and incorporate Social Media Channels

Social media is used by dental practices, as well as businesses of all sizes, because it is an effective method of engaging patients and referrals. With millions of people using social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and Twitter, it should be a no-brainer to include these channels to help keep patients and prospects as active participants of your online strategies (Check back later for a feature on the power of social media).

Sliders help Feature your Top Dental Services

A slider is a great tool to highlight your top services through the use of attention-grabbing visuals. Bloor West Smiles uses a slider on their homepage to focus on dental services they provide along with photos of actual smiling patients, which link to the appropriate service page. Again, it’s important to make it easy for patients to get where they want to go.

Place Contact Information at Top and Bottom of Page

Considering that the number one reason you invested in a website is to drive business, make sure to include your phone number in both the header and the footer of your website design so the viewer can easily engage with you. For the Bloor West Smiles website, contact forms are utilized on every page, along with additional links to easily set up appointments.

There’s more

Obviously there are many intricate moving parts that help turn a normal website into a cost-effective patient lead generation tool. Lead Magnets, Marketing Automation, etc., can help your practice vastly improve R.O.I. We will be talking more about these tactics in upcoming dental blog posts. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to sign up for Brand+Aid and have marketing tips and fresh ideas delivered to your inbox.

If you prefer to talk in person regarding the marketing of your dental practice, feel free to contact us and we would be glad to offer you a no-strings-attached free consultation. You’ll have a chance to discuss some of your unique challenges with a marketing expert in a pressure free environment. Even if you choose not to hire us, you’ll walk away with some great new ideas that you can implement in your practice today.

Paul Bies
President
MYSTIQUE BRAND COMMUNICATIONS

416-441-2666 Ext 14.

Starting a new practice or looking to revitalize your dental brand?

Paul and his team will help you develop your brand – your story, company voice, culture, and ideals. Through discussion and research, they’ll challenge you to broaden your own perspectives by viewing the world through the eyes of your patients, employees, competitors, and outside influences. The process will help your story unfold – identifying the key values your brand represents and defining the unique character that should exist in every facet of your brand experience.

Since 1986 – Mystique Brand Communications has been helping small/medium businesses position themselves, build brand awareness, and create thought leadership that engages consumers on multiple levels. From initial research and strategies to marketing campaigns and automation, Mystique will tailor your brand communications to your specific practice objectives and revenue goals.

Use the contact form on the right side of this page to start the conversation today.